Posted on 08/13/2010 7:25:18 AM PDT by HIDEK6
Permit me to lean on the vast FR knowledge base.
I have a phone number out there that I've had for maybe 30 years. It resides in a computer somewhere and is forwarded to my local number.
I'd like to find out who the carrier is for this number.
I've called the local phone company and also Bellsouth. Neither of them can help me because they are not responsible for the number.
The question is, does anyone know of a grand super poobah of phone numbers who can tell me who is the carrier for this number?
Do you not get a bill for the number?
If you have the area code and prefix, you should be able narrow it down to the carrier in the area for those numbers. In my area, all numbers are Qwest, unless they are cell phone numbers.
Try this.. http://www.fonefinder.net/
AFAIK, CLECS buy blocks of new numbers, but once the customer purchases the rights to the number, the number is now fully transferable between phone service providers.
In short, whoever is billing you for the phone number is the company responsible for the number.
If however you’re question is about which phone carrier originally owned your phone number when it was first put into service... I’m not sure.
Try www.fonerecords.com
Try www.fonerecords.com
Who do you pay your bill to?
Something is not right here...
It recently dawned on me that I'd better figure out who has the number in case something goest wrong.
callersearch.com. Enter the number and the returned data will show the carrier data and switch codes for the number. They will request a fee for more detailed information but what you need is listed as a confirming identifier prior to the more detailed search for which they charge. Good luck.
That works for the olden days. if the number was ported to a new carrier , a cell carrier, it doesn’t know.
In my case it shows United Telephone a company that changed hands at least three times that I know of
It sounds like you might have remote call forwarding. I would think you would get some sort of a bill for that unless mergers and acquisitions have resulted in you falling through the cracks. Who is the local telco that originally set this up for you?
Something is not right.
First, do you know for a fact that you are getting call forwarding from that number?
If so, why?
Who would have a number that you apparently do not have yourself?
If you do have it, it is easy to find out who the carrier is.
Further, your phone company is lying to you. You need to get someone who knows what he is talking about.
There was a phone in the woods near my neighborhood that was used to make long distance calls by hundreds of people over the years — at least ten years that I know of. The bills would have been in the many thousands of dollars per year. It had been some sort of railroad company phone, then the railroad was pulled up, but the phone was still there. Eventually it was vandalized, and the copper wires stolen.
That was in the 60s.
I know for a fact that I'm getting calls placed to that number. They're being forwarded to my local mom and pop number.
I've gone to all the suggested websites, and they all show BellSouth to be the carrier. Fine, but I don't get a bill from Bellsouth, and when I called them they told me they didn't have it.
10 years ago I set this up through some fly-by-night guy who then got bought out by a major. But I can't recall the details of it.
Like someone suggested, mergers and acquisitions could have let this fall through the cracks, but I don't really want a free phone number that might stop working at some time.
Thank you all for your help so far.
BellSouth is now AT&T
How often does this happen? Is there someone on the other end of the phone call?
If it happens occasionally and there is someone on the other end, tell them not to call that number.
If you don’t know the original phone number, ask the person that called it to repeat it to you.
Or, change your phone number. Most likely, outside of a few individuals, most folks won’t remember your number anyway and will have to look it up. That would stop the auto-forwarding issue you’ve got going on.
I needed the auto forwarding option because back in the olden days, I moved into an area that Bellsouth didn't serve, so I had to get a local mom and pop number (North State Communication) in order to get service at all. I had to keep the old number because that's how my customers would get ahold of me.
I really appreciate all the trouble you and everyone else have taken to help me.
Problem solved, thanks to FReeper help.
Several of you sent me links showing that the carrier of record was Bellsouth Telecommunications. AT&T has acquired BTI, and I had called them at first, but they were not able to help.
After seeing the results of your links, I called AT&T back, directed them to the link, showed them that they were shown as the carrier and asked them to really try this time.
A nice guy named JH found the number and drilled down through his records and found that it was ported out to a company called Business Telecommunications, Inc.
He gave me three contact phone numbers for BTI, and all had been disconnected.
I found a general number for BTI on the internet, and it rang at a place called Deltacom.
Deltacom told me that they had acquired BTI and that they did have the number. They said my account was current, and I find now that we’ve been paying them for three years, but I didn’t know what it was for (I do not pay the bills here, and the person that did pay the bills left.)
Good thing I didn’t cancel them, huh?
Anyway, though you’d all like to know how it turned out and how your help was instrumental in my solving the problem.
Thanks so much for caring enough to get involved.
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